But in terms of the Opta stats, my own view on this is as follows - i think that when Stevie is IN the team, the other players are maybe a little scared or intimidated by the big man and are less likely to take chances or even play their 'natural' game and choose to play it nice and safe, so as not to get a 'bollocking' from the Captain, for example last season, nearly everytime that Garcia lost the ball will nilly and Stevie was in close proximity, he was lambasted !!
Over a period of time i think this would have an affect on your decision making, as you might think.....'s.hit i better not try and go past this guy in case i lose it and Stevie goes mad at me'......maybe a little far fetched some may say, but just a personal observation.
When things are going bad (at times) Stevie G's body language (especially last season!) was just abysmal and i think this would also filter through to the other players (well if i saw it, they surely must have!!) and rub off on them too.
However, at the same time, when things are going bad, he is the first person we all look to (players,fans,manager etc;) to get things moving and as somebody said above, when he does this there is nobody better....a la Olympiacos, Middlesborough (at home, top corner half volley

And it is for those reasons that i have just mentioned above, why we MUST keep hold of him, because he will just go and do the same for whoever would be lucky enough to sign him.
YNWA